Elizabeth Warren’s Broadband Boondoggle

The WasteWatcher

August 7, 2019 — Alexandra Abrams

In her latest attempt to bilk taxpayers out of their money, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has proposed an $85 billion plan to provide universal high-speed internet in rural neighborhoods. The plan would create a federal Office of Broadband Access to manage the billion dollar grant program. The grants would be distributed to cities, counties, tribes, and other groups to create fiber broadband networks in unserved areas of the country. Her proposal would also “preempt” state laws in 26 states that protect taxpayer resources from being used to create often wasteful municipal broadband projects.

However, building digital bridges for unserved cities and counties has failed in the past. Under the Obama administration’s stimulus program, $7.2 billon was allocated for broadband programs through two federal agencies. Warren’s $85 billion plan is more than 10 times that amount. The programs failed, were ineffective, and riddled with waste. Government-funded broadband deployment efforts should be entered into cautiously, yet Sen. Warren seems to be throwing caution to the wind.

This is the latest ridiculous and expensive proposal to come out of Sen. Warren’s mouth. The aspiring presidential candidate has also pitched ideas for universal free college, and a $2.2 trillion bailout to cancel all outstanding student loan debt. She supports the Green New Deal, which is estimated to cost $93 trillion. There is also Medicare for All, which has a whopping $32 trillion price tag. Her plan for universal high-speed internet is just the latest in a huge laundry list of expensive proposals from the Democratic presidential candidates.

The word “universal” is certainly one candidates like to repeat, yet there’s nothing universal about spending the taxpayers’ hard earned money.

The WasteWatcher is the staff blog of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) and the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW). For questions, contact blog@cagw.org.